California State University, Dominguez Hills
University of Wisconsin, Parkside
Latest update: January 24, 1999 Faculty on the Site.

The Many Voices of the Motorcycle

Many of us have driven and have a fond spot in our hearts for motorcycles. Why? Was it purely economic? A cheaper way to get around? Or was there a special bond with the wind flying? Was there a need to cover rough terrain on a dirt bike? Or to show off an enormous machine in all its glory?

The Gugenheim recently featured the motorcycle in a very popular show. I was thrilled to see that they had a version of the motorcycle I drove when I was younger. Why? I'm not sure I can answer that. But I was genuinely glad to see that old machine. (No, of course not; it wasn't mine; but somehow I still related to it.) It was a little 125 cc Honda Supersport, about the biggest I could manage, given my diminutive size. But there it was, right along with the Harleys. Was I ever proud, to have been part of a tradition I had hardly realized was a giant piece of my memories!

Those who drive, and have always driven, four wheel vehicles have little appreciation of the thrill of the motorcycle. They tend also to have little regard for those smaller machines that share the road with them.

On this page, I would like to present some of stories of those who ride, or used to ride, motorcycles. It is a story that can probably be told very dramatically, and I suspect visually. Have a photograph that captures some of the spirit? Send it to us, with permission to put it up, of course. Have a memory? E-mail us? Want to work on putting the story together? E-mail us.